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Donald F. and Lois M. Hanson Fund

Donald F. and Lois M. Hanson Fund

Donald and Lois Hanson were married in 1950. During their 47 years of marriage, they raised ten children, all of whom live across the United States. Home could have been identified in any number of places since Donald and Lois were born in the Midwest and traveled the world during Donald’s career with the Army. Fortunately, Colonel Donald Hanson retired from the Army and made his and Lois’ permanent home in Hancock County. Donald started and owned a successful business and seven of their children graduated from Mt. Vernon High School. Donald passed away in 1997 and Lois knew that he would have approved of establishing a fund at the Community Foundation.

Lois first established the Donald F. and Lois M. Hanson Family Endowment Fund in 2008. Its defined purpose reflected her and her late husband’s desire to provide support for educational attainment initiatives such as literacy enrichment programs and family strengthening services such as retreats and recreation opportunities. In 2015, Lois learned that HCCF had identified the Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library as the program to address kindergarten readiness improvement efforts in Hancock County. Imagination Library provides accessibility to literacy materials through the delivery of quality age-appropriate books that are delivered monthly to the home of enrolled Hancock County children. Since Don and Lois practiced spending quality time with their children by reading to them regularly, the Imagination Library program spoke to Lois’ heart. She revised the Donald F. and Lois M. Hanson Family Endowment fund agreement, designating it specifically for the purpose of funding books for pre-school aged children. “I love this program!” shares Lois.

Lois inspires her family by continuing a tradition of organizing retreats that bring together her children, 27 grandchildren, and 24 great grandchildren from all over the United States.